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Ingham had been raiding the home and a violent, 20-minute long fight began. Hungarian-born Mr Baungartner said the burglar came at him with a deadly force. The tussle ended with Ingham dead from an obstruction of his airways.

Following Ingham’s inquest, the jury came to a verdict of accidental death. The police and Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Mr Baungartner, who received a broken wrist and severe bruising.

Many people are unaware of how they can legally act when it comes to intruder confrontation

In another Derbyshire case, 83-year-old Ted Newberry, from Ilkeston, was forced to pay more than £4,000 in damages after firing a 12-bore shotgun at a man who broke into his allotment in 1988.

The retired hospital porter was so fed up with vandals ruining his allotment, he decided to sleep there so he could catch the trespassers in the act.

Instead of discovering the culprits red-handed, Ted realised the noise he could hear outside was that of would-be burglars trying to break into his shed.

Fearing for his life, Mr Newberrytook up his shotgun to fire a “warning shot” through a hole in the shed door.

The shot hit one of the intruders, then 22, who was left with 50 gunshot wounds in his body.

A jury later cleared Mr Newberry of deliberately injuring anyone because he acted in self-defence. However, Mr Newberry was informed he had been negligent when he fired through the shed door and should have turned the light on or shouted instead.